Overview


On the Internet, no one knows if you're a cat.


In 2009, the UK saw a court case that caused speculation. Two men, Christopher Monks of Lancashire and Shaun Skarnes of Cheshire, were convicted of plotting to kill one of the pair's adoptive parents, but that's not the interesting part – it's where the two had met that raised eyebrows. The two men met on a website dedicated to furries where they shared sexual role-playing fantasies. [1] This raised the question: Who and/or what are furries?


According to 4chan, furries come in dead last on the Internet food chain. Furries are members of an Internet subculture known as Furry (Furry Fandom, Furrydom, Furdom, and so on.). Furries are people who have an affinity for anthropomorphic animals (animals with human attributes such as the ability to speak, walk on two legs, wear clothes, etc.). Bugs Bunny makes for a good example of an anthropomorphic animal, as he walks on two feet, talks, and just acts like a human. With this definition, any normal person could consider themselves a furry – who doesn't like a childhood staple like Bugs Bunny? Well, would a normal person go so far as to create their own fursona?


Furries are apt to creating their own character (fursona) for use as role-playing. This can be done online in the form of an avatar in online communities (such as, notoriously, in Second Life); however, for some furries, the online community is not enough, as some opt for creating and donning costumes (fursuits) with the intention of meeting fellow furries at designated conventions.


The furry fandom will accept anyone; however, the furries that are the butt of all jokes and mockery are the ones who take their interests to an extreme. Furries of the “yiff yiff” variety take their affinity to sexual levels. These fetishistic furries make up for a relatively small albeit loud percentage of the entire Furdom. Ever seen the rule 34'd picture of Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose? Yiff-yiffs love those. And for that, the Internet mocks them and every other furry.

[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8355287.stm

History


(There is no text here yet.)

Opinion


(There is no text here yet.)

Future Trends?


(There is no text here yet.)